Raiders zero in on eighth— straight playoff appearance

Almont’s Jace Rinke heads for the end zone during a game with Capac on September 8.
Photo by Austin VanDaele ALMONT — The Almont varsity football team is one game away from a guaranteed playoff berth and will look to punch its ticket to the postseason this Friday against rival Imlay City. The Raiders, 5-2, are coming off a 28-3 victory over Yale last week while Imlay City, 1-6, fell to Richmond 34-6.

Almont has continued to pride itself on its defense, allowing just 69 points in league play and 75 points altogether. The Raiders will look to continue their defensive dominance during Friday’s game against a Spartans’ team that has the third-lowest point total in the Blue Water Area Conference.

Meanwhile, Almont’s offense has bounced back after scoring just seven points two weeks ago against Richmond and looks to fire on all cylinders to clinch a playoff spot during the Raiders’ last home game of the season, which also happens to be Homecoming.

The Raiders will look to their running game to give them the advantage, as they have all season long. Almont has gained 2,456 total yards this season with 1,925 of them coming on the ground. Last week, the Raiders had two different players rush for over 100 yards in Jack Paupert and Colton Kruse.

“We are focused on [Imlay City’s] spread style offense with a good quarterback and good receivers as well as a defense that has improved throughout the season,” said Almont coach James Leusby.

Almont has won the last eightstraight matchups between the teams, with Imlay City’s last win in the series coming in 2008. The Raiders will look for their ninth consecutive win over the Spartans on Friday at 7 p.m. at Almont High School.

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